The processes and products of the construction industry affect all people in the
industrialized world. It is also a backbone of many countries’ economies, often
constituting about 7-10% of the GNP. Hence, the efficiency of the construction
industry is of great interest and relevance. In many countries, however, the
construction industry frequently receives criticism regarding poor quality and
customer satisfaction, frequent conflicts and disputes among different actors, and cost
and schedule overruns in projects. Construction projects are mostly characterized by
high complexity, customization and uncertainty coupled with long duration. Such
characteristics require collaboration and coordination among many different actors.
However, both practitioners and academics argue that many of the problems in
construction projects are linked to inadequate procurement procedures where the
focus is on short-term individual sub-optimization rather than on long-term project
team performance. In order to increase the efficiency of the construction industry
development and improvement of procurement procedures is therefore vital.